The World System

301-14-A, Specter Captain

Derek Blaine, a Specter and 301-14-A’s partner

Elizabeth Aurora – a Specter, aligned with Premier Sullivan

Napoleon Alexander, supreme ruler of the World System

James Donalson, Grand Admiral of the World System

Scott Sullivan, Premier of the Ruling Council

Christopher Holt, Chief Advisor of the Ruling Council

Gordon Drake, Chief Advisor of the Ruling Council

James McCall, Admiral and former Specter

The Rebellion

Grace Sawyer, daughter of Jacob Sawyer and the leader of the Silent Thunder 2nd Battalion

Ellis Crenshaw, former Silent Thunder commander and leader of the resistance intelligence cell

Davian, Lieutenant Commander of the Silent Thunder 2nd Battalion

The Silent Thunder Rebellion

Grace Sawyer, leader of the Silent Thunder 2nd Battalion

Ellis Crenshaw, Grace’s primary advisor

Davian, Lieutenant Commander of the Silent Thunder 2nd Battalion

Aiken, Commander of the Silent Thunder 1st Battalion

The World System

Derek Blaine, Grand Admiral of the World System

Napoleon Alexander, supreme ruler of the World System

Tony Marcus, Specter General

The Imperial Conglomerate

Elizabeth Aurora – Chief of Command of the Imperial Conglomerate

Scott Sullivan, Emperor of the Imperial Conglomerate

Christopher Holt, Member of the Imperial High Council

Luke Orion, Member of the Imperial High Council

Bryan Gavin, General of the Imperial Guard

Shadow Heart’s Coalition

Grace Sawyer, Magistrate of the Corridor, leader of the Silent Thunder 2nd Battalion

Elizabeth Aurora, General of coalition forces

Ellis Crenshaw, Grace’s primary advisor

Davian, Lieutenant Commander of the Silent Thunder 2nd Battalion

Aiken, Commander of the Silent Thunder 1st Battalion

Jeremiah Bruce, vice-regent of the Corridor

Radcliffe, General of the Great Army of the Corridor

The World System

Derek Blaine, disgraced former Grand Admiral

Napoleon Alexander, supreme ruler of the World System

Thorne, Specter General and de facto head of Specter

Tony Marcus, Specter General

Walter Blaine, Alexandrian noble of the World System

Benjamin Gentry, former Specter and friend of Derek Blaine

The Imperial Conglomerate

Scott Sullivan, Emperor of the Imperial Conglomerate

Christopher Holt, Admiral of the Imperial Navy

Luke Orion, Member of the Imperial High Council

Bryan Gavin, Chief of Command of the Imperial Conglomerate

The New Arrivals

Elijah Charity, commander of the black-clad warriors

Shahzad al-Zarif, captain of the Swords of Persia

Kira Kane, Elijah’s second-in-command

301-14-A is a soldier in the World System’s Great Army. After his squad is ambushed by rebels in the Wilderness Sector of Alexandria and all but him are killed, he is caught up in the political maneuvers of MWR Napoleon Alexander and his Ruling Council, led by Premier Sullivan. Due to a twist of fate, he is named Captain of Specter, a special forces unit of warriors trained in the use of the Spectral Gladius.

Also chosen for Specter are Elizabeth Aurora, a childhood friend of his, and Derek Blaine, the man who will become both his rival and partner. Leading their training is the last surviving member of the original Specter force, Admiral James McCall.

As a gift to mark his ascension 301 receives a slave named Grace, who he learns was a rebel warrior before her capture. He agrees to keep both her and her secret safe in return for teaching him what she knows about Spectral Gladius combat, allowing him to stay ahead of Derek Blaine. In the course of his training the two grow close, while Admiral McCall gives 301 and Derek the task to hunt down the rebellion’s supply network.

In the course of their investigation, 301 learns that Grace is not just a normal rebel, but the daughter of rebel leader Jacob Sawyer, and that she was placed near the seat of power in the hope that she would assassinate Napoleon Alexander.

As the release of this information becomes imminent, 301 enlists Liz Aurora’s help to get Grace out of the palace to safety. Elijah delivers her to a resistance contact named Ellis Crenshaw, and then goes back to the palace alone, realizing both that he loves her and will likely never see her again.

To survive the fallout of this series of events, 301 is forced to place his trust fully in Premier Sullivan, whose price is loyalty to the Ruling Council over Napoleon Alexander.  Realizing the Premier has used Liz to back him into a corner, he feels betrayed but has no choice but to agree.

Meanwhile Grace and Crenshaw return to her father and learn the Rebellion is close to carrying out its first major attack. She and Crenshaw agree to work together to complete the recruitment of 301 to the Rebellion, which leads them to the Capital Orphanage where he was raised.

301 and Derek continue hunting the rebel supply network, and capture a rebel major named Timothy Graves who, under apparent duress, warns them of the impending rebel attack on the Weapons Manufacturing Facility. Specter takes command of the Fourteenth Army as it reinforces the WMF, but the rebels use the increased security to sneak inside and initiate a lockdown.

Alone on the Research and Development level with the rebels, 301 and Derek face off together against Jacob Sawyer and his rebels. The rebels manage to destroy the facility, but not before Sawyer is killed by Derek while the rebel leader prevents one of his own men from killing 301. As Sawyer dies, he implies the reason for his sacrifice was because he realized the identity of 301’s father. When pressed for a name, Sawyer only replies, “Pax Aeterna.”

Back at the palace, 301 is saved from execution for his failure to protect the WMF by news of Sawyer’s death and Derek giving him credit for the kill. The two former rivals reach an understanding and begin to move toward seeing on another as equals if not yet friends.

That night, knowing that Grace will likely never forgive him for his part in her father’s death, 301 seeks solace in the arms of Liz Aurora. He mentions Sawyer’s last words to him, which she recognizes. Pax Aeterna was the name of the Gladius used by the rebellion’s founder, Jonathan Charity, meaning that in his final moments Sawyer realized that 301 was the long lost son of his late leader and friend.

Grace, despite her grief and uncertainty due to her father’s death, learns that she is to be nominated to succeed him as Commander of the Rebellion.

After connecting the dots between Jacob Sawyer’s last words and Specter Captain 301-14-A, Sullivan decides 301 is no longer useful to him and puts his plan to separate from the World System in motion. Liz, ordered to kill 301, refuses the order, but flees to join a fleet of hostile warships sailing into Alexandria. 301 and Derek pursue her and are able to foil the Ruling Council’s plot to overthrow the System in the western hemisphere, forcing them to consolidate their hold on Europe.

The System prepares for a protracted civil war, and then learns that the Rebellion has not crumbled as they had hoped it would after Jacob Sawyer’s death. In his place, his daughter Grace has assumed the mantle of High Commander, and leads an army of hundreds against the Communications Tower. 301 confronts Grace on top of the Tower, where she reveals she knows his true identity, that he is the long-lost son of Jonathan Charity. She offers him the chance to leave with her, which he almost takes before the arrival of Derek Blaine, when the Master Communications dish begins to move and is destroyed by Grand Admiral Donalson’s men on the ground.

301 is wounded in the blast, and after a heated duel between Grace and Derek, she escapes the roof of the Tower via Halo and sounds the rebel retreat.

Liz arrives in Rome to take command of the Imperial Conglomerate’s Army, and hatches a plan to use Charles Justus, the defeated leader of a rebellion in Rome, to forge an alliance with Silent Thunder and use them to weaken the System. But this plan is sidetracked when one of Sullivan’s trusted advisors, Gordon Drake, is killed by World System assassins, driving Sullivan deeper into a state of paranoia.

As a result of his failure at the Tower, 301 is put on notice to either capture Grace Sawyer to be executed, or face execution himself. The MWR orders Grand Admiral Donalson to conduct a brutal purge of Alexandria in an attempt to flush out the rebellion. The daughter of rebel Major Timothy Graves, Elena, who was rescued during an interrogation before the rebels hit the Communications Tower, betrays her rescuers and returns to the World System, giving up the location of one of the hidden rebel bases.

Specter arrives too late to participate in the destruction of the rebel base, but on investigating the scene 301 is attacked. He kills his assailant, only to realize she is a young girl, barely more than a child. This sends his already questioning mind into a spiral of doubt, where he begins to see his actions and those of the World System for the evil and tyranny they really are. He finds evidence that he believes will likely lead back to the main Silent Thunder conclave, and chooses not to share it with the World System.

Feeling the noose tightening, and with no more word or missions from the Benefactor, Grace and Crenshaw make the difficult decision to evacuate Alexandria and get their people to safety in the Wilderness. Grace also learns the particulars of Operation Shadow Fall, a complex plan devised by the Benefactor network and the Global Restoration Alliance, an overseas entity made up of exiled governments around the world, to overthrow Napoleon Alexander without a bloody, widespread war. Their plan to do this was to replace Alexander with 301-14-A, who they believed they could control both through his relationship to Grace and his identity as Jonathan Charity’s long lost son.

301 returns alone to the site of the destroyed rebel enclave to follow the clue he believes will lead him back to the main rebel base, and Grace. With the evacuation underway, Grace sees him approaching through their monitoring equipment, and goes out to meet him. 301 wishes to accept her offer to join the rebellion, but she wants 301 to take her in, hoping that by sacrificing her own life she might save 301 and end the brutal purge of the city.

301 refuses, but Admiral McCall arrives with the entirety of Specter, tipped off by Derek Blaine that 301 might attempt something of this nature. 301 challenges them all, but Grace surrenders herself without a fight. 301 makes his way back out into the city and witnesses firsthand the brutality of the purge, until he ends up at the Capital Orphanage.

There he sees the Matron who raised him on her deathbed, and she tells him of the memory reprogramming sessions the Discipliner used on him to erase Elijah Charity from his memories. But she also tells him they are likely to return in a moment of high emotion that mirrors a similar event from his past. He meets Crenshaw afterward, and expresses a willingness to help him get Grace to safety.

Grace is taken to the palace, where Admiral McCall reveals that he is a spy working for the Benefactor network, and the linchpin in Operation Shadow Fall. In the course of her meeting with Napoleon Alexander, she makes an attempt at escape to serve as a distraction, while McCall tries to carry out the plan to kill Napoleon Alexander. He nearly succeeds, but is foiled by Grand Admiral Donalson. Napoleon Alexander then kills McCall with his own blade.

Grace and 301 cross paths while he is on his way back to the palace and she is in the midst of her escape attempt. During this meeting he experiences a mirrored past and present event when Grace is dragged away from him, mirroring when he was dragged away from his mother as a child. The process of defragmentation begins, with his memories returning in clusters.

Grace’s execution is held in the Central Square, but before it can be carried out 301 attacks the executioner and frees her. He then faces down all his companions in Specter, and Crenshaw’s Silent Thunder warriors appear to create chaos throughout the Square. 301 confronts Napoleon Alexander and tries to kill him, but is thwarted by his partner and friend, Derek Blaine. The two battle, and Derek wins, stabbing 301 through the shoulder.

While 301 is helpless, Napoleon Alexander shoots him, and he dies in Derek Blaine’s arms. Derek vows to avenge him, blaming Grace for his death, and is made Grand Admiral to replace Donalson, who 301 killed in the course of the battle.

Silent Thunder flees the Square and Alexandria, and Grace and Crenshaw, devastated by their loss, turn their attentions to the future, and survival.

Liz arrives with Charles Justus and the Conglomerate fleet for another attempt to take Alexandria, igniting the civil war.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that two of Sullivan’s closest advisors have been colluding with the Restoration, but to what end is unknown.

One year after the Battle of the Central Square, Liz Aurora attempts to flee Rome and escape Emperor Sullivan’s service. But she is instead captured and dropped into the North American Wilderness with orders to carry out the infiltration plan she had given to Charles Justus — who they have not heard from in a year and is presumed dead.

Liz narrowly survives a trek across the Wilderness, but is found by a scouting team led by Grace’s second in command, Lieutenant Commander Davian of Silent Thunder. He brings her back with him to the Silent Thunder camp.

Grace and Crenshaw, it is revealed, have spent the last year hunting for more of the Rose Project fragments that Crenshaw was seeking before he joined the Alexandrian Resistance. They located one, and were tracked down by Grand Admiral Derek Blaine and his Spectorium, an elite team of Specters that he has employed as rebel hunters.

Grace’s entire team is killed and she herself is wounded, though she manages to make it back to the camp with the fragment, and they find the clue to the next one, which Crenshaw believes is hidden in the massive fortress city of Corridor Prime.

While Grace undergoes a special procedure on her wounded leg, the Silent Thunder camp is attacked. Liz Aurora manages to be in the right place at the right time to prevent Grace from being taken captive, and the two escape the camp together, though in the opposite direction of the other Silent Thunder warriors who remain with Crenshaw and Davian.

Knowing their eventual destination, they decide to head west for Corridor Prime in the hope that they will meet back up with the main column of rebel warriors. While hiding out and recovering in a cave, they are taken in by a group of wild men who warn that they are being tracked and are likely to be discovered.

Derek Blaine is one of those trackers, though his team discovers there is another on the hunt: an assassin, who kills one of their men in the forest, and whose goals are unknown to them. This assassin was employed by a man he knows only as the master to hunt down and kill Shadow Heart, Grace Sawyer.

When the Spectorium moves on, the wild men, who Liz begins to suspect are not so wild but are in disguise, take them outside their forest and give them a horse to outpace their pursuers. Grateful, Grace and Liz continue their journey west.

Meanwhile, the System’s eastern divisions are thrown into some disarray by the invasion of a small force of black and gold armored warriors. This force cut through two Great Army divisions without so much as slowing down, and are believed to be Persians due to their use of signature Persian scimitars. They also are on a trajectory for Corridor Prime, presumably hunting down the Silent Thunder column to take revenge for the part they played in the Resurgence.

As Grace and Liz near the outer reaches of the Corridor, they come across an abandoned Great Army outpost filled with dead soldiers, apparently killed at one another’s hands. Grace learns from a note left behind that there has been a Code Zero in Corridor Prime. She leaves the outpost to discuss with Liz.

But Liz has been taken captive by the assassin, who is a man she grew up with at the Capital Orphanage named Rowan. Rowan uses Liz to draw Grace out, and in the ensuing fight nearly kills both women. However, the arrival of a squad of Great Army soldiers saves both of their lives, and Rowan is killed. The two women are taken by the soldiers, presumably bound for Corridor Prime.

Expecting execution, Grace is led into the Stone Hall of Corridor Prime, only to learn that upon crossing into the city the System’s central computer named her to ascend as the division’s Magistrate. After the death of her predecessor, the System failed to select a replacement, leading to an unprecedented crisis and civil strife between competing factions. Napoleon Alexander named his own replacement, a Great Army general named Van Dorn, but a majority of the ruling class of the Corridor did not recognize Alexander’s authority to supersede the central computer, resulting in violence.

Grace uses her newfound authority to rescue Silent Thunder from the Wilderness just before they are attacked by the Spectorium, and upon their return to the city begins to make plans to settle the civil unrest by defeating General Van Dorn’s forces.

Meanwhile Napoleon Alexander orders Derek Blaine to pull back the Spectorium, believing that the Persians are on a collision course with Silent Thunder and that they will destroy one another. Derek, filled with doubt at Alexander’s conclusion as well as with a deep desire to exact vengeance with his own hands, defies these orders, and enters the city to help press Van Dorn’s claim.

In the ensuing battle Derek manages to cut Grace and a portion of her Silent Thunder warriors off from the remainder of her coalition army, and nearly wipes them out. But just before the final push the Persians arrive, not to fight Silent Thunder but to protect them, and with their superior technology wipe out almost the entire Spectorium. In the battle, Derek faces the leader of the black-clad warriors and appears to recognize him based on his fighting style, but before he can confirm this belief he is attacked from behind by one of his own men, Specter General Marcus, who throughout the book has had his eyes on Derek’s position and power.

After the battle, Grace and Crenshaw meet with Shahzad al-Zarif, leader of the Swords of Persia, who takes them to the Stone Hall to meet with the commander of the black-clad warriors. When the commander removes his helmet, they see that he is not a Persian at all, but Elijah Charity, alive and well.

In the epilogue, the Discipliner completes the transformation of Charles Justus into one of his agents, having used techniques very similar to those leveraged to erase Elijah Charity’s memories, and sends him to Corridor Prime.